FanStory.com - Let the Children Come to Meby Y. M. Roger
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Star Trek Script (Re-Boot Crew)
Let the Children Come to Me by Y. M. Roger
An Epic Star Trek Tale contest entry


[Script format makes it seem longer but is still about a 25 minute read. Be sure to read author notes at the end (AFTER you read). Trekkies enjoy!]
 
FADE IN:
 
ENTERPRISE BRIDGE – LARGE FRONT VIEWSCREEN ONLY

IMAGE IS OF SPACE (DIFFERENT SIZES OF “PINPRICK STARS” ON BLANKET OF BLACK). HOWEVER, THE MAJORITY OF THE IMAGE IS VISUALLY DISTORTED, ALMOST FLICKERING. THE DISTORTIONS RESULT IN A NOT-QUITE-DISCERNABLE IMAGE OF A PLANET OR MASSIVE SPHEROID AT RANDOM AND RARE TIME INTERVALS.
 
KIRK (IN NARRATION ONLY):
Captain’s log, stardate 53718.2. According to Mr. Spock’s calculations, we have located the point in space from which the mysterious blast of radio waves that bombarded the Enterprise seems to have emanated. Although we are not quite sure what is beneath it, an energy barrier is protecting the source and prevents the use of the transporter.  Because there is no star or black hole or other detectable object in this sector, the sheer existence of a stable mass of this size is an anomaly.
 
DISSOLVE TO:
 
ENTIRE BRIDGE AND CREW + PERIPHERAL DIALOGUE – SELECTIVE INTERCUTS AS EFFECTIVE FOR NOTED CREW DIALOGUE
 
KIRK
Lieutenant Uhura, any detectable signals or attempts to contact us?
 
UHURA
None, Captain. All sensor readouts are normal for empty space. In fact, if I wasn’t looking at the screen in front of me, I would swear there was nothing in this entire sector.
 
KIRK
Mr. Spock, any guess as to what is hiding behind the curtain here?
 
UHURA (SNICKERS TO SELF – BARELY NOTICEABLE, BUT NOTEWORTHY)
 
SPOCK (TURNING FROM INSTRUMENTS WITH RAISED EYEBROW)
I do not believe that a guess is beneficial in any situation, Captain.
 
KIRK (SMIRKING)
Oka-a-a-ay, Mr. Sp-
 
SPOCK (CONTINUING AS IF KIRK HAD NOT BEGUN TO SPEAK)
I can say with certainty that reliable data to answer your inquiry can only be obtained from the other side of energy barrier.
 
KIRK (FACE MORPHING INTO INCREDULITY)
Wait. Are saying that we cannot discern what’s back behind the barrier unless we are behind it?
 
SPOCK (UNPHASED)
That is correct.
 
DISBELIEF AND SOME CHUCKLES THROUGHOUT THE BRIDGE CREW
 
SPOCK (GLANCING AROUND IN RESPONSE TO THE MURMURS AND RE-FOCUSING ON THE CAPTAIN)
I have determined that the atomic structure of the field is such that, although it prevents the transmission and reception of electromagnetic or other signals, it would allow the passage of a mass of limited size.
 
SULU
So, I could actually walk through it but I cannot talk through it?
 
SPOCK
Due to the relatively unknown behavior of the energy itself, Mr. Sulu, I could not guarantee the condition of your physical being upon passage; however, your crude analogy is essentially correct. I would, however, advise the use of a vehicle.
 
KIRK (BROW DEEPLY FURROWED)
But radio waves are a form of electromagnetic signal. How do you explain the radio wave blast that brought us here?
 
SPOCK
Either the blast was emitted by another vehicle in this vicinity or the signal escaped at the instant the barrier was breached by a form of matter.
 
UHURA
Meaning that there is a possibility it could have been some form of distress signal from a stranded ship that managed to get a signal out somehow.
 
SILENCE FALLS OVER THE BRIDGE
 
KIRK
Spock?
 
SPOCK
That is certainly one logical conclusion, Captain, given the two possibilities; howe-
 
KIRK (COMMAND CHAIR BACK TO FRONT AND STANDING)
Mr. Chekov, notify shuttle command to ready a shuttlecraft for launch in half an hour.
(STARTS TOWARD THE LIFT)
Mr. Spock, you’re with me.
 
SPOCK (HESITATING)
But, Captain, I-
 
KIRK (STOPS MID-STEP AND TURNS BACK TO SPOCK)
Mr. Spock, do you acknowledge there is a real possibility that there could be a ship behind that energy barrier or curtain or whatever it is?
 
SPOCK
Yes, Captain, bu-
 
KIRK
And did you not explain that there is no way to know exactly what is back there without actually going inside the energy barrier?
 
SPOCK
Yes, Captain, that is unden-
 
KIRK
Well, if I was the captain of a ship that managed to get a distress signal out, I would hope to have my crew rescued as soon as possible, wouldn’t you, Mr. Spock?
 
SILENCE ACROSS THE BRIDGE – ALL EYES ON SPOCK
 
SPOCK (CLOSES OFF HIS STATION)
I’m right behind you, Captain.
 
KIRK
Mr. Sulu, you have the Conn.
 
UHURA (STANDS AS KIRK AND SPOCK ENTER THE LIFT)
But, Captain, don’t you think you shou-
 
KIRK
You’re right, Lieutenant.
(REACHING FOR LIFT CONTOLS, WINKS)
Notify Dr. McCoy that we’re on our way to pick him up.
 
UHURA (PURSES LIPS, EXHALES WITH EXASPERATION - MAKES EXAGGERATED TURN BACK TO COMMUNICATIONS CONSOLE)
Yes, Captain.
 
LIFT DOORS CLOSE ON GRINNING KIRK AND AN EXTREMELY CONTENPLATIVE SPOCK.
 
DISSOLVE TO:
 
EXTERNAL - SHUTTLECRAFT ON APPROACH TO ‘INVISIBLE’ ENERGY BARRIER
 
KIRK (VOICE ONLY)
Hold here. Spock, readings?
 
MCCOY (VOICE ONLY)
Oh, good! We don’t even know …
 
INTERNAL – SHUTTLECRAFT CABIN. ON-BOARD ARE KIRK, SPOCK, MCCOY, AN ANDORIAN FEMALE ENSIGN (AT THE HELM), AND ONE SECURITY OFFICER.
 
MCCOY cont’d
…if we’re going to live or di-
 
SPOCK
Readings have not changed, Captain, and I assure you, Doctor, we are not going to die.
 
KIRK (BEMUSED)
Take us through, Ensign.
 
EXTERNAL - SHUTTLECRAFT SPECTACULAR AND COLORFUL PASSAGE THROUGH INVISIBLE ENERGY FIELD.
REVEALED IS A PLANET-SIZED ‘SOMEWHAT SPHERE’ THAT IS COMPRISED OF SOLID PORTIONS AND MULTIPLE-SIZED AND -COLORED/LIGHTED ENCLOSURES: 
  ---SOLID MASS OFF-CENTER OF ‘SOMEWHAT SPHERE’ [APPEARS WITH CLOUDS/ETC INDICATIVE OF AN ATMOSPHERE]
  ---MULTIPLE SMALL TO MEDIUM ‘ENERGY-FENCED’ ENCLOSURES [SOME OPAQUELY LIT, SOME ACTIVITY CAN BE SEEN IN OTHERS]
  ---SINGLE LARGE ‘ENERGY-FENCED’ ENCLOSURE OUTSIZING EVEN THE SOLID MASS [SEEMS TO SIMPLY BE DARK WITH A DISTORTION AND OCCASIONAL ‘BLACKISH GLINT’ INDICATING SOMETHING LIQUID OR GASEOUS CONTAINED WITHIN]
  ---ALL ENCLOSURES ACCESSIBLE THROUGH CONNECTING ‘WALKWAYS’ (OF SUCH) WITH SOLID MASS POSITIONED AS ‘OPERATIONAL CENTER’
 
SPOCK (VOICE ONLY)
Fascinating.
 
MCCOY (VOICE ONLY)
My God, Jim, what are we looking at?
 
SURROUNDING ENERGY FIELD THEY JUST PASSED THROUGH SHIMMERS BRIGHTLY AND BECOMES A FAINT, GLOWING FLOURESCENT PINK [HAS BEEN ‘INVISIBLE THOUGH OPAQUE’ UNTIL NOW]
 
KIRK (VOICE ONLY)
Spo-o-o-ock?
 
INTERNAL – SHUTTLECRAFT CABIN. STILL ON APPROACH TO ‘SOMEWHAT SPHERE’.
 
SPOCK
It would seem our landing is encouraged, Captain. A homing beacon has been activated, and the surrounding energy shield has been reconfigured such that it is now impenetrable.
 
KIRK
Damn.
(PAUSES)
Any readings as to the possible source of the radio wave blast?
 
SPOCK
Initial scans indicate nothing of the sort, but the unusual amount of interference and anomalous energy readings are distorting any possible baseline.
 
KIRK
Atmosphere? Weapons?
 
MCCOY
Jim, you aren’t seriously considering putting us down on that…that thing?
 
SPOCK
An acceptable combination of nitrogen and oxygen, Captain, and there is no advanced technology suggestive of weapons or other offensive or defensive platforms.
 
MCCOY
No advanced technology? I’m a doctor, Mr. Spock, not an analyst, but wouldn’t you concede that this whole damn thing
(INDICATES THE SHUTTLECRAFT VIEW SCREEN)
is advanced technology?
 
KIRK
Ensign Talas, follow that beacon in to land.
(TURNS ATTENTION BACK TO SPOCK)
What is the temperature like, Mr. Spock?
 
SPOCK
The answer to that question is not easily rendered, Captain. There are what one would call temperature zones across the central mass that range from forty-eight degrees down to negative twenty degrees Celsius. The one in which the beacon seems to be located is around thirty degrees Celsius. The humidity, however, is approximately one-hundred percent
 
MCCOY (OBVIOUS OBJECTION TO THE LANDING )
Wonderful , just like summer in the South! So, what kind of a welcome committee should we be expecting?
 
SPOCK
That is the unusual thing: although the energy readings are all over the place, I can detect no standard life forms.
 
KIRK
Well, some-one or some-thing has made it clear they wish to meet us.
 
KIRK UNHOLSTERS HIS PHASER AND ADJUSTS THE SETTING.
 
KIRK
But until we know more, set your phasers to stun.
 
UN-NAMED SECURITY OFFICER (LEANING TOWARD SHUTTLECRAFT VIEWPORT, POINTING)
Captain Kirk! There’s movement on the ground, sir.
 
EXTERNAL – SHUTTLECRAFT NEARS LANDING ON GROUND SIMILAR TO DESERT SOUTHWEST AFTER A HEAVY RAIN. WIDE, OVERHEAD SHOT REVEALS LARGE, ROLLING WAVES OF MIST – MAINTAINING LOW CLOSE PROXIMITY TO THE GROUND – CLOSING IN ON THE SHUTTLECRAFT LOCATION FROM NEARLY ALL DIRECTIONS.
 
DISSOLVE TO:
 
EXTERNAL - KIRK, SPOCK, MCCOY, SECURITY OFFICER STANDING AT BASE OF SHUTTLECRAFT STAIRS. SPOCK AND MCCOY BOTH ATTEMPTING TO COLLECT DATA ON THEIR TRICORDERS. A STRANGE, VERY NON-DESCRIPT FEMALE DRESSED IN A PLAIN, FLOWING ROBE/GOWN APPEARS FROM AROUND THE BACK OF THE SHUTTLECRAFT. LAYERS OF MIST PRECEDE HER FOOTSTEPS, CONTINUOUSLY ‘SPREADING’ ALONG THE GROUND AND TRAILING BEHIND HER. THE SOUND OF HER VOICE STARTLES THE FOUR – HER SPEECH IS EVEN AND MEASURED AND, ALTHOUGH NOT ROBOTIC, SEEMINGLY DEVOID OF OVERT EMOTION.
 
FEMALE
Welcome to Cunabula.
(PRONOUNCED ‘KOO-NAY-BOO-LA’)
 
SHE DOES NOT EVEN FLINCH WHEN KIRK AND SECURITY GUARD DRAW THEIR PHASERS
 
FEMALE
You may call me Eve, James, son of Winona and George.
 
AS SHE NODS HER HEAD IN HIS DIRECTION, KIRK’S PHASER VANISHES. SHE ADDRESSES THE SECURITY OFFICER AS HIS PHASER ALSO VANISHES WITH HER WORDS.
 
FEMALE/EVE
Please keep careful watch over your craft, Velan, son of Letitia and Raylen – some of my charges can be very curious about the unknown.
 
SECURITY OFFICER LOOKS TO KIRK WHO HAS NOT TAKEN HIS EYES OFF OF EVE. OTHERS SEEM AT A LOSS BUT MCCOY HAS ALREADY BEGUN USING HIS TRICORDER IN THE FEMALE’S DIRECTION.
 
KIRK (NARROWS EYES IN SUSPICION)
How do you know m-
 
THE FEMALE TURNS HER ATTENTION TO SPOCK AND MCCOY.
 
EVE
You as well, Leonard, son of Eleanora & David and Spock, son of Amanda & Sarek – you may both call me Eve.
(TURNS TO WALK AWAY)
This way, please. I would show you three the signal source you seek so that you may depart.
 
KIRK GIVES BOTH ENSIGN AND SECURITY OFFICER SOME LAST MINUTE INSTRUCTIONS BEFORE JOGGING TO JOIN SPOCK AND MCCOY IN FOLLOWING EVE.   
 
ALTHOUGH THE THREE STRUGGLE PERIODICALLY WITH THE TERRAIN, EVE MOVES SMOOTHLY, FLOWING OVER THE ROUGH SPOTS [MIST STILL FOLLOWING HER] EVEN THOUGH SHE APPEARS TO BE ‘WALKING’.
 
MCCOY
I cannot get any sort of life reading on her, Jim; it’s like she’s a ghost of some kind. Or some actual angel with those huge wings.
 
KIRK
I’d say a very beautiful ghost, Bones, since there are no wings.
(SOMEWHAT ‘LEERING’ IN HIS USUAL ‘ADMIRING’ MANNER)
I mean, look at that sheer gown and those intricate knots in that hair that practically touches the ground.
 
MCCOY APPEARS POISED TO ARGUE WITH KIRK. SPOCK INTERRUPTS.
 
SPOCK
It is disrespectful to speak of a Vulcan elder in that manner, Captain. Hardly sheer, her gowns are of ritual layers of heavy cloth.
(FROWNS AT KIRK)
And her hair may be in jeweled knots, but it is only to her waist.
 
MCCOY (GLANCES BETWEEN THE TWO OF THEM INCREDULOUSLY)
You’re both out of your damn minds – those wings almost drag the ground and practically hide her hair from this angle!
 
QUIET DISAGREEMENTS ON EVE’S PHYSICAL APPEARANCE CONTINUE.
 
CRESTING A HILLTOP, THEY PASS THROUGH AN INVISIBLE YET OBVIOUS ENERGY SHIELD OF SOME KIND AND THE TEMPERATURE SUDDENLY PLUMMETS. THE GROUND UNDERFOOT IS FROZEN AND COVERED IN ICE CRYSTALS.
 
AS THEY APPROACH/BEGIN TO PASS A PARTIALLY-FROZEN LAKE, THEY NOTICE THE FOLLOWING ABOUT THE LAKE:
 ---A PLATFORM IN THE MIDDLE OVER WHICH SEEMS TO BE A SWIRLING (GENTLE, NOT VIOLENT) CLOUD OF DUST
 ---LAKE IS ‘SLUSHY’, THICK MIXTURE OF WATER, ICE AND SNOW
 ---SMALL, GOLF-BALL-SIZED WITH THE RARE BASEBALL-SIZED OBJECTS ‘JUMP OUT’ OF THE WATER AND THROUGH THE DUST CLOUD. THE LARGER OBJECTS SEEM TO HAVE MORE OF A CONTROLED JUMP FOLLOWED BY A BIT OF MANEUVERABILITY BEFORE FALLING BACK INTO THE ‘SLUSH’ – THEY ALSO HAVE WHAT APPEARS TO BE JUST THE BEGINNINGS OF A ‘TRAILING’ AURA BEHIND THEM IN ‘FLIGHT’. THE SMALLER ONES DO WELL TO ‘CLEAR’ THE PLATFORM AND PASS THROUGH THE DUST CLOUD TO RETURN TO THE SLUSH ON THE OTHER SIDE.
 
AS THE GROUP PASSES, ONE OF THE LARGER OBJECTS FLIES DIRECTLY TOWARD THEM. EVE STEPS INTO ITS PATH. THE OBJECT SEEMS TO GET TANGLED IN HER FLOWING ROBES. THE MIST RISES AROUND EVE AS SHE SEEMS TO WRESTLE THE OBJECT TO CALM IT DOWN, MURMURING UNRECOGNIZABLE PHRASES AS SHE DOES SO. FINALLY, THE MIST SETTLES BACK TO GROUND LEVEL AND SHE RAISES THE OBJECT TO HER CHEEK, RUBBING IT A NUMBER OF TIMES BEFORE TOSSING IT BACK INTO THE ‘SLUSHY’ LAKE.
 
EVE SHAKES HER HEAD IN THE SLIGHTEST.
 
EVE
Cometes.
(PRONOUNCED ‘KOH-MEETS’)
 
SHE SIGHS AND A SLIGHT SMILE GRACES HER FEATURES. SHE TURNS AND CONTINUES WALKING AS SHE SPEAKS.
 
EVE
Hardly a coma and no tail to speak of, and yet they yearn to fly free. The infants can barely make it out of the freezing water.
 
THE THREE LOOK AT EACH OTHER, MCCOY AND KIRK IN WONDER, SPOCK IN CONTEMPLATION AS HE MAKES MULTIPLE ATTEMPTS TO SCAN THE AREA WITH THE TRICORDER.
 
SPOCK
Kohmeets. Kohmeets.
(TURNS TO KIRK)
Captain, comets have both a tail and a coma, but they are not aliv-
 
EVE STOPS AND TURNS TO SPEAK TO THE THREE. HER TONE A BIT MORE STRIDENT THAT BEFORE.
 
EVE
Please do not tarry. I have much to do as it grows nigh on pick up time, and I must show you the next aria so that you can be gone.
 
THE THREE LOOK A BIT SHOCKED, BUT RUSH FORWARD TO CATCH UP. KIRK STEPS UP EVEN FURTHER TO MATCH EVE’S PACE. BEHIND THEM, ONE OF THE OBJECTS SOARS OUT OF THE LAKE RISING UNTIL IT HITS THE ENERGY FIELD, ANGLES DOWNWARD AND ACROSS, FINALLY PASSING THROUGH THE DUST CLOUD AND SPLASHING BACK INTO THE ‘SLUSH’.
 
KIRK
Eve?
 
EVE (NOT SLOWING)
Yes, James, son of Winona and George?
 
KIRK
What is this place?
 
A LOOK OF COMPLETE DISBELIEF OR LACK OF UNDERSTANDING ON EVE’S FACE DEEPENS UNTIL IT IS REPLACED WITH A FROWN. THE FROWN GROWS AND THEN COMPLETELY DISAPPEARS AS THEY PASS THROUGH ANOTHER ENERGY FIELD ONTO WHAT SEEMS TO BE ONE OF THE COVERED WALKWAYS LEADING AWAY FROM THE CENTRAL MASS OF THIS CLUSTER TO ONE OF THE ENCLOSURES.
 
EVE (MOTIONS TO ONE OF THE HUGE ENCLOSURES LOCATED OFF TO THE RIGHT)
Here.
 
NOTE: FROM THIS LOCATION, THEY CAN LOOK OUT INTO THE GROUPING OF THE ENCLOSURES THEY HAVE ONLY OBSERVED FROM THE SHUTTLECRAFT BEFORE NOW – THE ENCLOSURES ARE MUCH LARGER THAN THEY APPEARED TO BE EARLIER. MCCOY GRIPS THE SIDE OF THE WALKWAY AS THE VASTNESS OF THE COMPLEX BECOMES EVIDENT. SPOCK LOOKS AROUND IN CURIOSITY AND WONDER.
 
THE ENCLOSURE EVE INDICATES LOOKS LIKE THE FOLLOWING:
 ---EXCEPT FOR THIS VIEWING WINDOW, IT IS COMPLETELY (ABOVE, BELOW, ALL SIDES) SURROUNDED BY MULTI-MIRRORED REFLECTIVE ‘SURFACE’. THE ‘REFLECTION’ IS TO THE INSIDE OF THE ENCLOSURE.
 ---ALTHOUGH THE LIGHT EMANATING FROM THE SINGLE VIEWING WINDOW IS ALMOST PAINFULLY BRIGHT, THE THREE CAN ALMOST DISCERN TWO CONCENTRATED PINPOINTS OF LIGHT IN NEAR EACH OTHER.
 
EVE HANDS EACH OF THE THREE A VISOR AND INDICATES THE CONTENTS OF THE ENCLOSURE. THE THREE PUT ON THE VISORS TO LOOK THROUGH VIEWPORT. WITH THE VISORS, THE TWO SINGULAR PINPOINTS OF LIGHT ARE CLEARLY ROCKING IN TANDEM WITH ONE ANOTHER.
 
EVE
The Gemini.
(SHAKES HEAD WITH ADORATION, ALMOST APPEARS TO SMILE)
So young and each so headstrong. Now, they sleep. Earlier, they had…how would you say….argument. I had to go in and calm them. When their aria was opened for my entry, their shouts at one another were released. Because the long cycle of the obscurum is closing, one of their parent’s arrival before the barrier was able to completely absorb the noise allowed some of their shouts to escape.
 
SPOCK (AUDIBLY STEPPING THROUGH THE LOGIC THAT FOLLOWS FROM EVE’S STATEMENT)
Gemini. Twins. Twin Lights?
 
EVE
Not just lights. How would you say….kaysars?
 
SPOCK (TURNS ABRUPTLY TO EVE IN RESPONSE)
Do you mean quasars?
 
EVE (NODDING IN AGREEMENT)
They are but a few cycles of age, Spock – son of Amanda and Sarek, but, yes, the term you use is quasars.
 
SPOCK (TURNS ABRUPTLY TO EVE IN RESPONSE)
You’re saying they are alive and their shouts are … radio waves?
 
MCCOY AND KIRK TURN TOWARD THE CONVERSATION.
 
EVE
Oh, only when they are agitated. When they are content-
(SHE INDICATES AN ELECTROMAGNETIC SPECTRUM SENSOR NEAR THE VIEWPORT AND POINTS SPECIFICALLY TO ITS CURRENT READING)
-they register in the x-ray range. Sleep is over-whelmingly ultra-violet.
 
MCCOY
Excuse me, ma’am, but are you saying these are baby quasars in this cage.
 
EVE
I would accept the general term of baby as an infant life form to be applicable in this case, Leonard – son of Eleanora and David, but it is not a cage. It is their aria here at Cunabula – it is for their safety. All of the arias are for the safety of all my charges since they all require such different environments.
 
SPOCK
In the previous environment, you used the term cometes. Did you mean comets?
 
EVE
Yes, the cometes…the comets…can share the same aria as long as they are here. Their age while at Cunabula merits no difference in their type of aria, I simply must assure their nucleus is nourished and fed. The only other of my charges to which age is not a concern would be the obscurum – they blend together as beautifully as their parents do out in the universe.
 
SPOCK WALKS AWAY FROM THE GROUP TOWARD THE ENCLOSURE ACROSS THE PATH. EVE TURNS TO FOLLOW.
 
SPOCK
The obscurum? They would be dark…
 
SPOCK ATTEMPTS TO LOOK THROUGH THE VIEWPORT OF THIS MUCH LARGER ENCLOSURE, ALMOST PRESSING HIS FACE AGAINST IT, BUT HIS ATTEMPTS ARE HINDERED BY THE VISOR. HE REMOVES THE VISOR AND SIMPLY HANGS FROM HIS BELT FOR LACK OF A BETTER PLACE TO PUT IT DOWN.
 
EVE
Dark matter and dark energy. Because theirs is the largest population in the universe, their offspring comprise the largest portion of the Cunabula’s population.
(SHE INDICATES THE DIRECTION FROM WHICH THEY JUST CAME)
Theirs is the largest aria and it is in the other direction from your craft.
 
EVE (AND MIST) HALT NOT FAR FROM SPOCK’S POSITION AT THE WINDOW. SHE OBSERVES HIM WITH CURIOSITY – ANGLING HER HEAD BACK AND FORTH – UNTIL, OBVIOUSLY MICMICKING HIM, SHE LEANS TOWARD THE VIEWPORT. AS SOON AS HER FACE IS ALMOST TOUCHING, LIGHTS OF MULTIPLE COLORS SUDDENLY IGNITE ON THE INSIDE RIGHT NEXT TO HER FACE– STARTLING SPOCK.
 
THE FLOWING GASEOUS LIGHTS SURROUND HER FACE’S LOCATION – SHE RAISES HER HAND TO THE GLASS AND BEGINS CHANTING/SINGING IN AN UNRECOGNIZABLE LANGUAGE, MOVING HER HAND TO THE RHYTHM OF HER CHANTS. THE COLORFUL GLOWING GASES ON THE OTHER SIDE FOLLOW HER HAND AND SONG WITH BOTH MOTION AND SPECTRAL DISPLAY.
 
EVE
Nebulae. Such playful flirts, even before they are able to follow motion well. This is the elder aria – they require warmth to mature their colors – the one there
(POINTS TO A SPECIFIC LOCATION)
with the deep magenta will be leaving me soon.
 
SPOCK
Fascinating.
 
KIRK (SEEMS FLUSTERED OR EVEN A BIT ANNOYED)
But quasars are just stars and nebulae and comets, well, they are not liv-
 
EVE  (HER TONE LOSES ITS GENTLENESS, SHE GROWS SLIGHTLY IN HEIGHT, AND THE MIST AROUND HER SEEMS TO THICKEN )
We just passed through the cometes aria, yet, when one of them abandoned its freezing dust growth pattern out of curiosity of your presence, you said nothing. These young nebulae follow my voice and musical lead. If they and the cometes were not living, James – son of Wnona and George, how do you explain such behavior?
 
SPOCK
Yes, Captain, how would you explain such behavior?
 
MCCOY (INCREDULITY EVIDENT IN BODY POSTURE AND FACIAL EXPRESSION)
Are you out of your Vulcan mind, Spock? There must be another explanation for-
 
SPOCK
Eve. You called this Cunabula? And these offspring your charges?
 
EVE NODS SOMEWHAT IN ACKNOWLEDGEMENT BUT DOES NOT RELENT IN HER STARE AT MCCOY AND KIRK. THE MIST AROUND HER BEGINS TO SLOWLY INCREASE.
 
SPOCK
Captain, Cunabula is the Latin word for cradle. If that is the case, then Eve here is the governess of this nearly unfathomable nursery, of sorts.
 
KIRK IS SPEECHLESS WHILE MCCOY SEEMS TO BE FOLLOWING.
 
MCCOY (THAT DRY WIT OF HIS VYING WITH HIS RESPECT FOR THE FEMALE)
So, we are to believe that this whole unbelievable complex is like some sort of day care for the cosmos? And that all of these offspring have a mother and a father that –
 
EVE’S MOOD OBVIOUSLY RELENTS SOMEWHAT AS EVIDENCED BY HER LESSENING HEIGHT AND THE SOMEWHAT THINNING OF THE MIST.
 
EVE
Of course not, that would be ridiculous.
 
KIRK, TOO, SEEMS TO RELAX WITH HER STATEMENT. MCCOY CHUCKLES.
 
EVE
All cosmic parents reproduce asexually through fragmentation. This is a universal fact.
 
A BLINDING FLASH APPEARS AT THE ENERGY ENCLOSURE BELOW THEIR LOCATION AS A BUZZING SOUND BEGINS ECHOING OVER AND THROUGHOUT THE HUGE COMPLEX. JUST SECONDS FOLLOWING, KIRK’S COMMUNICATOR BEEPS. EVE TURNS TO RUN DOWN THE PATH AWAY FROM THEM.
 
EVE
Go. The Cunabula grants you exit with escort. Cycle’s end has come for many, and a brown dwarf has arrived to collect their offspring. My charges are my concern, not your disbelief.
 
THE MIST FOLLOWS HER RETREATING FORM AS THE SECURITY OFFICER’S VOICE ECHOES FROM KIRK’S COMMUNICATOR.
 
OFFICER (VOICE ON SPEAKER)
You need to get back here, sir. Immediately.
 
DISSOLVE TO:
 
EXTERNAL - KIRK, SPOCK, AND MCCOY – BREATHLESS FROM RUNNING – BOUND UP THE STEPS OF THE SHUTTLECRAFT. A THICK WALL OF MIST IS CLOSING IN ON THE CRAFT FROM ALL SIDES EXCEPT THE WAY FROM WHICH THE THREE JUST APPROACHED. THE MISTY WALL HAS WHAT APPEAR TO BE TINY LIGHTS SPARKING INSIDE OF IT. IT IS NOW TALLER THAN THE SHUTTLECRAFT AND THREATENS TO ENGULF IT.
 
KIRK
Ensign Talas, get us off the ground.
 
DISSOLVE TO:
 
INTERNAL – EVERYONE ATTEMPTING TO BUCKLE UP AS THE SHUTTLECRAFT RISES AT AN AWKWARD ANGLE. ANNOYANCE THROUGHOUT EXCEPT MCCOY, WHO HATES FLYING AT ALL, CLOSES EYES AND TENSELY HOLDS ON.
 
ENSIGN (STRUGGLING WITH THE CRAFT CONTROLS)
But, Captain, the energy shield…
(SHIP BEGINS TO BEHAVE IRRADICATELY)
I can..not..seem..to…
 
SPOCK (EXTREMELY CALM)
Release the controls, Ensign.
 
ENSIGN (STILL FIGHTING THE HELM)
But if I let go, the ship will…
 
SPOCK (REACHES OVER AND BATS THE ENSIGNS HANDS AWAY FROM THE CONTROLS)
That was an order, Ensign!
 
KIRK
Spock! What the hel-
 
THE SHUTTLECRAFT TURBULENCE STOPS AND SMOOTH FORWARD MOTION TAKES OVER. THE SHUTTLECRAFT TURNS AROUND IN THE EXACT DIRECTIONAL PATH ON WHICH THEY APPROACHED EARLIER. THE HUGE COMPLEX LEAVES THE SCREEN AS THEY ARE TURNED AWAY TOWARD THE PINK GLOW OF THE ENERGY FIELD.
 
SPOCK
Eve’s words were ‘the Cunabula grants you exit with escort’. I believe, Captain, we are being escorted.
 
MCCOY
I don’t care if that crazy angel herself is carrying us, just get us back to the damn ship!
 
SPOCK
I still do not understand, Doctor, why you seem to think a Vulcan elder in any way resembles what humans refer to as an angel.
 
KIRK (LEANS BACK IN SEAT, EYES WITH A FARAWAY ALMOST HUNGRY LOOK TO THEM)
Think the changing atmospheres must have affected you both. That was the most beautiful woman I think I’ve ever seen.
 
DISSOLVE TO:
 
EXTERNAL – THE MIST CLOUD HAS WRAPPED ITSELF COMPLETELY AROUND THE SHUTTLECRAFT. IT GUIDES IT WITHOUT INCIDENT THROUGH THE ENERGY BARRIER, RELEASING IT AS SOON AS IT IS THROUGH.
 
DISSOLVE TO:
 
INTERNAL – ENTERPRISE SHUTTLECRAFT LANDING BAY. RED ALERT IS SOUNDING THROUGHOUT THE SHIP. SHUTTLECRAFT LANDS AND IS TURNED FOR DISEMBARKATION.  KIRK BOUNDS OUT FIRST AS THE DOORS OPEN, COMMUNICATOR IN HAND. THE OTHERS SOON FOLLOW. MCCOY LAST, MAY HAVE TO THROW UP.
 
KIRK
Mr. Sulu, why are we at red alert?
 
SULU (VOICE ONLY)
That would be easier to explain in person, Captain.
 
KIRK
We’re on our way, Mr. Sulu.
(CLOSES COMMUNICATOR AND MUMBLES TO SELF AS HE JOGS TOWARD THE LIFT)
I go away for a few hours…
 
DISSOLVE TO:
 
ENTIRE BRIDGE AND CREW + PERIPHERAL DIALOGUE – SELECTIVE INTERCUTS AS EFFECTIVE FOR NOTED CREW DIALOGUE. KIRK AND SPOCK ENTER – SPOCK IMMEDIATELY RE-TAKES POST WHILE KIRK HEADS FOR COMMAND CHAIR NOW RELINQUISHED BY SULU.
 
KIRK
Situation, Mr. Sulu.
 
LARGE VIEWSCREEN SHOWS THE DISTORTED SPACE FROM THE ENERGY BARRIER SURROUNDING THE CUNABULA OFF TO THE RIGHT SIDE. A DARK CLOUD WITH OCCASIONAL HINTS OF REFLECTIVE BLACK ONYX IS ROILING VIGOROUSLY OFF TO THE LEFT. THE CLOUD IS GROWING IN SIZE, INDICATING ITS APPROACH TO THEIR LOCATION.
 
SULU
Our shields are raised, Captain. That large cloud appeared just moments before your shuttlecraft emerged from the energy barrier. Its heading is approximately our location. We can detect no composite mass within the cloud although its density is such that it obscures our view of the stars beyond it. Lieutenant Uhura has attempted communication, but there is no response to our hails.
 
KIRK (ACTIVATES COMM PANEL ON CHAIR)
Mr. Scott, how fast can you get us out of here?
 
SCOTTY (VOICE ONLY )
I can give ya impulse pow-
 
SPOCK
It will not be soon enough, Captain, the cloud’s approach is too rapid. Recall that Eve said the long cycle of the obscurum is closing – I believe the dark cloud is not approaching the Enterprise at all, but the Cunabula, to retrieve its offspring.
 
UHURA
It’s offspring? Spock, what are you ta-
 
THE OUTER EDGES OF THE CLOUD BEGIN TO PASS OVER THE ENTERPRISE CAUSING A SERIES OF INSTRUMENTATION FLICKERS TO JOIN IN WITH THE BLINKING RED ALERT BEACONS MOUNTED THROUGHOUT THE BRIDGE. A FAINT YET DISCERNABLE TREMOR PASSES THROUGH THE SHIP AND A BARELY DETECTABLE HUM BEGINS ROLLING THROUGHOUT.
 
SCOTTY
Captain! What in the name of –
 
KIRK
Mr. Chekov, why aren’t those shields holding?!
 
CHEKOV STARTS TO ANSWER BUT IS CUT OFF BY THE INCREASED PITCH OF THE HUMMING AND ANOTHER MORE PRONOUNCED TREMOR. ON SCREEN, THE CUNABULA’S ENERGY BARRIER GLOWS ITS HOT PINK IN ONE PLACE TO INDICATE IT IS BEING CROSSED.
 
UHURA
Captain! Incoming message from inside the energy barrier. It simply reads : Perhaps another time, when you are ready to believe.
 
BRIDGE INSTRUMENTATION BEGINS TO FAIL. THE CLOUD BEGINS TO PASS SLOWLY THROUGH THE ENERGY BARRIER WHILE STILL SLOWLY ENVELOPING THE ENTERPRISE IN ITS PASSING.
 
KIRK
Analysis Spock!
 
SPOCK’S ANSWER CANNOT BE HEARD AS CHAOS ENSUES. THE VIEWSCREEN IS COMPLETELY BLACK. TREMORS INCREASE AS THE SHIP’S SHIELDS FAIL COMPLETELY. SCOTTY’S VOICE IS HEARD SPEAKING OF WARP CORE FAILURE. THE BRIDGE BEGINS TO DARKEN.
 
THE ENTIRE SCENE FADES TO SILENT BLACK.
 
FADE IN:
 
ENTERPRISE BRIDGE – LARGE FRONT VIEWSCREEN ONLY
 
IMAGE IS OF SPACE (DIFFERENT SIZES OF “PINPRICK STARS” ON BLANKET OF BLACK). NORMAL OPERATIONAL SOUNDS .
 
DISSOLVE TO:
 
ENTIRE BRIDGE AND CREW + PERIPHERAL DIALOGUE – SELECTIVE INTERCUTS AS EFFECTIVE FOR NOTED CREW DIALOGUE
 
KIRK
Lieutenant Uhura, any detectable signals or transmissions in this area to indicate a radio signal source?
 
UHURA
None, Captain. It seems that this entire sector is empty.
 
KIRK
Mr. Spock, any guess as to what may have gone wrong with your calculations?
 
UHURA (SNICKERS TO SELF – BARELY NOTICEABLE, BUT NOTEWORTHY)
 
SPOCK (TURNING FROM INSTRUMENTS WITH RAISED EYEBROW)
I do not believe that a guess is beneficial in any situation, Captain.
 
KIRK (SMIRKING)
Oka-a-a-ay, Mr. Sp-
 
SPOCK (CONTINUING AS IF KIRK HAD NOT BEGUN TO SPEAK)
I can say with certainty that my calculations were correct and that this is the exact location from which the blast of radio waves that bombarded the Enterprise seems to have emanated. 
 
KIRK
Any warp core signatures or other indications of another ship’s presence?
 
SPOCK (OBVIOUSLY PUZZLED)
None, Captain.
 
KIRK (SMIRKING AGAIN AS HE TURNS BACK TO FACE FORWARD)
Well, if this was a game of hide and seek, I’d say that, whoever they are, they’re a damn site better at it than we are.
 
RESPONSE CHUCKLES AND PERIPHERAL DIALOGUE THROUGHOUT BRIDGE.
 
KIRK
Mr. Sulu, set a course for Starbase 2, maximum warp.
 
SULU
Ay, Captain.
(WORKS THROUGH NECESSARY INSTRUMENT ADJUSTMENTS)
Course for Starbase 2 laid in.
 
FOCUS IN ON UHURA’S AND SPOCK’S LOCATION. OTHER DIALOGUE CONTINUES BUT AT A FADED LEVEL.
 
UHURA  (POINTING TO THE WASTEBAND OF SPOCK’S UNIFORM PANTS)
Spock, what is that thing?
 
SPOCK RAISES HIS ELBOW TO SEE WHERE/WHAT UHURA IS INDICATING. HE REMOVES THE EYE-PROTECTOR VISOR GIVEN HIM BY EVE. HE LOOKS AT IT – TURNING IT OVER AND OVER WITH CURIOSITY.
 
SPOCK (HOLDING THE VISOR UP TO LOOK THROUGH IT IN EXAMINATION OF ITS CONTENT/PURPOSE)
I do not know, Nyota.
(SHAKES HIS HEAD SLIGHTLY AND FROWNS, HIS GAZE CONNECTING WITH HERS)
I Do. Not. Know.
 
 
FADE OUT.
 
ROLL CREDITS/MAIN THEME
 

Author Notes
Okay, so now I know why just a single episode script is over an inch, sometimes close to two inches thick! I had no idea the format of a script took so much paper!! I actually 'shortened' my ending because I wanted you to be able to read it without falling into an irrecoverable coma!

So, as a heads up to JJ Abrams [LOL!]: let me know if you want the motion picture length version!! I had originally planned to have one of the 'young dark energies' stow away on the shuttlecraft and wind up back on the Enterprise. The stowaway would then wreak a bit of havoc in a couple three different circumstances (including shutting down the warp core, preventing Enterprise's departure).*** Eve contacts the Enterprise to let them know she figured out this 'dark energy youngster' had stowed away. The parent dark energy would then 'pass through' the enterprise to 'pick up' its offspring along the way (just as is depicted here) and the action would then resume just like it finishes here, with them forgetting everything. [***During the time when they're trying to figure out what's going on with the 'havoc' [stowaway] in the Enterprise's systems, the Bridge would observe/monitor a Hyper-velocity Star as it approached and departed with its offspring - difference of 'alone' and 'with child' confirmed through mass spectrometer and energy differences only because its velocity does not slow ever.]

Of course, both the completed script posted here as well as the proposed 'motion picture length' have the benefit of follow-on seeds being planted in TWO ways: the FIRST, obviously, is the visor, but the SECOND less intuitive one is the fact that now the dark energy (which makes up 68% of the universe) has gained a detailed mapping of Enterprise's technology due to its 'pass-through'.

I hope some of you enjoyed this. I am a huge Trekkie, although I must say that I am EXTREMELY partial to TOS (The Original Series), yet I am now thrilled to have Alternate Reality/Re-Boot to follow as well. I did, however, enjoy the later seasons of TNG (The Next Generation) and the early seasons of DS-9 (Deep Space Nine). Don't really have much to say about the others and have not had the time/chance to give this latest 'Discovery' a chance...but I'm not holding my breath. :)

Thank you for reading -- Live long and prosper!! :) :)

     

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